Why use a web design agency when I could do it myself? The many web design platforms and people who "know a thing or two about it" can give the impression that creating a website is easy to do yourself. So is it really worth it to hire a web design agency?
My team and I work with many companies of all sizes to design or redesign their websites. The purpose of this article is not to preach to the choir, but rather to share my experience with you to help you see things more clearly.
I'm going to cover a set of questions that you should ask yourself before deciding who will be in charge of designing your website. You will find that the answers are not always as simple as they first appear.
How big is your project? The first thing to do is to identify your needs. The purpose of your website or web page will really determine whether or not you need to hire a team of professionals.
Some projects can be managed very well in-house with tools that are easy to use even for those who are less knowledgeable. Other projects require several skills that are rarely found in a single professional, experienced or not. I'll go through the different types of projects to give you some guidance.
Creating a simple landing pageIf you want to create a one-page site, quickly, to fill an urgent need or simply to provide a minimal online presence, there is no need to go through a web design agency.
There are landing page creation platforms such as Unbounce and Instapage that are intuitive enough to allow you to do it yourself. These solutions offer page templates that are easy to modify and require very little programming skills. Beware of the cost, however, as these platforms often work on a subscription basis. They are therefore particularly interesting if you want to change the content of your page often or if you only need your site to be online for a few weeks or months.
If, on the other hand, you want something a little more elaborate in terms of design and you can wait a few weeks to get your page online (depending on the agency's production schedule), it may be worthwhile to use the services of a freelance web designer or a web agency. You will pay for your site once and for all and you can have a fully personalised page.
Creating a standard website VS a specific websiteThe notion of a "standard website" or "basic website" is not always easy to identify. Clients often ask us to do certain tasks quickly "that take 5 minutes" when in fact they take several hours. The reverse scenario is just as common. Overall, if you know exactly what you want and you are rather demanding, you will be better off turning to a web design agency for your project.
An experienced web agency will be able to create a website tailored to your needs. The same applies if you want to develop specific functionalities (newsletters, chat, secure area, reservation system, shop locator, etc.).
The purpose of using the services of a web design agency is also to be advised and guided throughout the project. There are many ways to create a website and the web agency should be able to adapt the project to your objectives.
Another solution would be to create a first version of your site yourself. If, for example, you are starting a business, have a small budget and time to spare, try it. If you really can't do it, call a web agency. If your site looks good, keep it while you develop your business and when you are ready to make a more professional site with more options, contact an agency.
Creating an online storeThe creation of an online shop can be done either by yourself, with a freelancer, or with a web design agency. Again, it depends on your design and functionality requirements. Similar to landing pages, you have the option of creating your site yourself. The platform that is known to be the most intuitive is Shopify.
For most other e-commerce platforms, you will need a web design agency. Indeed, other CMS like WordPress, Magento, Prestashop etc., are more complex but also allow you to have much more customised sites. You can also create custom plugins as needed, something that is less easy with Shopify.
More and more professionals are opting for an online shop built on WordPress with the "WooCommerce" suite. This option allows you to customise your E-commerce while ensuring ease of management afterwards (for adding or changing content for example).
What resources do you have?
Do you have the knowledge or resources to help you? To make a website "on the mark", you need knowledge of design, programming, and time. If you have them, go! But if you feel you lack time or knowledge on certain points, it's important to find your team (freelancer or web agency) before you start your project. It is much more difficult to find an agency to help you during the project to "fill the gaps".
A good tip is to avoid asking friends or your cousin's sister's brother-in-law for help, even if it is free or cheap. Your demands may be higher than the person helping you had in mind in the first place. When it comes to making a website to convey your company's image, don't be cheap and risk looking like a low-end company. Remember that your website is often the first impression your potential customers have of you.
How much money do you have? The question of budget is always a sensitive one when it comes to creating a website, especially if you are not familiar with it. Every web agency and freelancer has their own price list and it's very difficult to compare apples to apples.
It's really best to write down all your criteria and shop around for a few companies to compare rates. Also think about how much you are willing to invest in your website. It is possible that what you want is worth more than what you have in mind, in which case it is always possible to work in phases. You can still try to estimate the price of your website yourself using this method.
If you need more precise information do not hesitate to contact Maxence from My Little Big Web. He always takes the time to explain the figures and detail each step of his estimate.
Have you thought about Web Marketing? I frequently meet companies looking for a Web agency to implement a traffic acquisition strategy for the website they have just finished. When analysing the website in question, I realise that the web design agency, the freelancer, or the employee did not actually take into account the marketing actions that would follow the creation of the website.
Be aware that the SEO or web advertising strategy should be thought of at the time you redesign your website (especially SEO) because the way your website is coded influences your positions on Google. When redesigning or creating your website, make sure that the team also has web marketing skills. If not, you'll probably have to pay for audits and possibly fix things that could have been done right from the start.
As I said earlier, the way your website is developed impacts your SEO in several ways.
The first is in the content and the way it is organised. If you have listed all your services on the same page instead of creating a page per service (with content that details each service), it will be more difficult for your page to rank well on Google. This is because the algorithm analyses each page individually to see which word to rank for. If you have a page that details all your services, Google will find it less relevant than having a page dedicated to each service. It may then rank your competitors, if they have made the effort to create content for each of their services and therefore each of the queries.
Also make sure that your site is optimised for mobile devices (phone, tablets) as they represent more than 70% of internet traffic. Google therefore attaches great importance to the user experience offered on mobile when deciding on the positioning of your pages.
There are obviously other SEO criteria to consider when designing your website but it would take a dedicated article to address all these points. The key thing to remember is to get an SEO specialist on board when designing your website rather than once the new site is live.
The impact of user experience on your advertising costs
Just as user experience (UX) has an impact on where you rank in search results, so does the impact of UX on online advertising. Indeed, whether you decide to invest in Google advertising (via the Google Ads platform), Facebook, Instragram, Linekdin, or other, the user experience will have a direct influence on your advertising costs and on your return on investment.
A website with a good user experience will inevitably convert visitors into customers better because it will give them confidence and allow them to perform the action you expect of them (purchase, contact). You should know that Google is able to tell if the visitors it sends to you have converted (or at least interacted) once they have arrived on your website or if they have left without taking any action.
Who will be responsible for the website once it goes live? Creating the website is one thing, maintaining and updating it is another. When you entrust the creation or redesign of your website to a person or a team, make sure that they will be able to assist you if needed or continue to manage the website.
I am often contacted by companies who have no one to look after their website once it is up and running. Indeed, agencies often do not take care of the maintenance of the websites they have created.
This is very important, however, as it will usually cost you more to have someone else do it. Programmers all have their own way of programming, just as we all have our own style of writing, and taking over someone else's work is often more time consuming and therefore more expensive as most maintenance services are charged by the hour.